Inside JB Racing: A Quick Shop Tour With Kallin

Step inside JB Racing for a fast look at how we turn raw metal into race-ready parts. Kallin walks us through the shop, the machines that power our work, and the small details that make our flywheels, distributors, and components reliable on the street and the track. Bonus cameo, Rosco the shop dog.

Two passions under one roof

One side of our building is dedicated to antique airplanes. You will spot a few beautiful restorations in progress as you walk in. The other side is all machining, assembly, balancing, and shipping. It is a busy space, clean, organized, and built for throughput.

Where the chips fly

Welcome to the machine shop. You will see Porsche flywheels in process and BMW flywheels queued for the next operation. Blanks begin life in the lathe, then move to the mill for drilling and engraving. Finished parts come off the machine deburred and ready for assembly, no outside processing required.

Haas VF-4SS with 5-axis trunnion

Our Haas VF-4SS handles most flywheel work. It has 50 by 20 by 26 inches of travel, and a 5-axis trunnion for complex positioning. We fixture four flywheels at a time, run two, flip, deburr in-machine, then remove two fully finished pieces. That flow saves handling, improves consistency, and speeds delivery.

Haas DS-30Y turning center

The DS-30Y runs throw-out bearing housings for Ford and Chevy customers, along with select flywheel ops. What took two machines and multiple setups now runs in a single operation. Parts go in as solid stock and come out complete. One touch in, one touch out. Some features hold plus or minus 0.0005 inch. Coolant chillers and vigilant in-process checks keep tolerance stable on hot Florida days.

Mazak lathe, our veteran workhorse

This Mazak has been with us since 2001. It has cut thousands of flywheels and distributor parts. Jim Higgs, the JB Racing founder, still runs it. His experience anchors the team as new talent and new machines expand capacity.

Materials, saws, and smart prep

All flywheels start as 11 or 12 inch round bar cut on an automatic band saw that handles 14 inch square capacity. It measures, feeds, and cuts unattended. For smaller round stock, we can load full 12 foot bars and let it run for about an hour without babysitting. Accurate cut lengths make downstream set-ups faster and more repeatable.

Tooling that raises the bar

Organization matters. Our tool crib holds dedicated flywheel tooling, live-tool holders for the DS-30Y, and racks of drills in metric and imperial sizes. We 3D print dividers and bins to keep everything sorted. A heat-shrink tool system and a Haas presetter let us build holders, set exact gauge lengths, and record true cutter diameters to five decimals. With real diameters in the program, our typical shop tolerance tightened from about plus or minus 0.005 inch to about plus or minus 0.001 inch, with less effort.

Balance like every part is headed to the grid

Every flywheel gets spin balanced to race standards, even if it is going on a street car. That means less vibration, smoother operation, and easier diagnostics. If you send a flywheel back for a new friction surface, we replace the plate, recheck balance, and return it with fresh hardware. In most cases the balance remains within the original spec.

Assembly, then inventory

After machining, parts roll to the assembly bench. You might spot BMW lightweight replacements with trigger wheels, already balanced and tagged, waiting for packaging. We finish subassemblies the same day and move them to inventory, boxed and labeled, so they can ship fast.

Fast shipping when it is in stock

Orders placed on our website print at the packing bench. Since finished goods are pre-boxed in inventory, we pull, label, and stage for pickup quickly. If the part is on the shelf, we can usually have it ready to leave within an hour.

Why it matters

Tight tolerances, balanced assemblies, and efficient flow add up to parts you can bolt on with confidence. Lighter flywheels help engines rev faster and feel sharper. Precision machining and verified balance cut vibration and wear. And because we control every step, we can stand behind what we ship.

Thanks for taking the tour with Kallin, and a wag from Rosco. Keep an eye out for more behind-the-scenes videos that show how we build the pieces that keep your Porsche or BMW feeling alive.